All sexed up and no place to go

I've heard a lot of "buzz" about Pamela Paul's book, Pornified: How Pornography is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships and Our Familes . I even went so far as to check it out from the library (not ready to purchase it until I know more). This interesting piece, The Pornification of America, from the Boston Globe last week makes me even more curious about this edgy book.

On the one hand, when I read the article I think I am very much inclined to nod vigorously in agreement with Ms. Paul:

What is new and troubling, critics suggest, is that the porn aesthetic has become so pervasive that it now serves as a kind of sensory wallpaper, something that many people don't even notice anymore. The free-speech-versus-censorship debates that invariably surround actual pornography do not burn as hot when the underlying principles of porn are filtered more subtly into the mainstream. And those principles, critics say, often involve reducing women to subjugated sex objects while presenting men in dominant roles.

Braving the inevitable accusations of prudery, which they reject, critics such as Paul are sounding the alarm. They say the current hypersexualized climate distorts the attitudes of young people toward sex and relationships. In particular, they contend it has a damaging effect on the self-image of young women and girls, who are confronted with a culture that objectifies them while disguising it as female empowerment.

On the other hand, I am troubled by her comments in the conclusion of this article such as the unfounded assumption that conservative religion exacerbates the effects of pornogrpahy in culture (wha!?!?) and her argument here that suggests smoking and sex are comparable addictions:

Whether or not that happens, Paul hopes that porn's hold on the culture will eventually be weakened as the ramifications of its watered-down versions sink in. "Our culture once glamorized cigarette smoking to a large extent. It was promoted by the medical establishment, the film industry, TV," she says. "But once the evidence of harm began to be disseminated by the government, and by schools and the private sector, the number of people who started smoking went down. My hope is that once people realize the negative effect that pornography has on individuals, their children, their wives, and society as a whole, there will be a mind-set shift."

From all that I know, sex is a far more potent drug than nicotine in its power to shape or misshape one's life and identity. More importantly, its misuse renders effects that reach far beyond lung disease. Beyond the risks of physical harm, sex is a drug that threatens to damage a persons very soul.

I hope she is less cliche in the rest of her book.

The best line in this article? It comes from social historian and author Barbara Dafoe Whitehead when she says, "We have an aging society and an adolescent culture."

Well said.

NOTE: If you can't link tothe Globe article, email me and I'll send it to you: harriskc@gmail.com